Installation for transporting spools

ABSTRACT

An installation for transporting filled spools produced in at least one first spinning machine to at least one second spinning machine having a spool railing and for transporting backward the empty spools to the first spinning machine or machines. This installation is preferably for transporting the spools between two groups of spinning machines concerned with different production steps. The second machine or group of machines constitutes the subsequent stage(s) of production. A common rail system is operatively associated with the spinning machines on whose rails a plurality of carriages are disposed for transporting the spools. Spool holders for holding the spools are provided on each carriage. At least one rail runs along each spinning machine, this rail forming part of the rail system. The spool railing (gripper rail, frame or lattice) of the second spinning machine is formed by the at least one rail running along the side of this machine in combination with the carriages brought on that rail which at their arrival carry full spools.

Klein 1451 Aug. 13, 1974 a INSTALLATION FOR TRANSPORTING .SPOOLS [75] Inventor: Konrad Klein, Ebersbach-Sulpach,

Germany [73] Assignee: Zinser-Textilmaschinen GmbH,

Ebersbach, Germany 22 Filed: June 4, 1973 5 211 Appl. No.: 366,683

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1963 Armitage 104/91 12/1963 I McCullough 57/52 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-D. W. Keen Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Edwin E. Greigg ABSTRACT An installation for transporting filled spools produced in t e t 22 firs ei n nspmhiaetea le we. ond spinning machine having a spool railing and for transporting backward the empty spools to the first spinning machine or machines. This installation is preferably for transporting the spools between two groups of spinning machines concerned with different production steps. The second machine or group of machines constitutes the subsequent stage(s) of production. A common rail system is operatively associated with the spinning machines on whose rails a plurality of carriages are disposed for transporting the spools. Spool holders for holding the spools are provided on each carriage. At least one rail runs along each spinning machine, this rail forming part of the rail system. The spool railing (gripper rail, frame or lattice) of the second spinning machine is formed by the at least one rail running along the side of this machine in combination with the carriages brought on that rail which at their arrival carry full spools.

21 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures INSTALLATION FOR TRANSPORTING SPOOLS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to an installation for transporting full spools produced on at least a first textile machine to at least a second textile machine. The invention relates, more particularly, to an installation for transporting full spools produced on atleast a first spinning machine to at least a second spinning machine, and for transporting back emprty spools to the first machine or group of machines. The invention is particularly useful for transporting the spools between two spinning machine groups. The second spinning machine (group of machines) is (are') provided with a spools railing (railings).

According to the invention, the spinning machine or group of machines which performs second or subsequent manufacturing step, i.e., the second machine or group of machines, may be roving frames or, preferably, finishing spinning machines. It is to be understood, however, that the present invention isnot limited to these specific types of stages.

In spinning plants, the full spools (bobbins, yarn packages or the like) filled with wound textile material produced on flyers or similar roving machine(s), must be transported to the subsequent manufacturing stage(s) and there they must be exchanged for empty spools. The empty spools must then again be taken back to the first roving machine(s) and there, at the next doffing, must be exchanged for full spools.

Until now, carts pushed by hand over the floor of the corresponding machinery hall or halls were used for transportation of full and empty spools. Each of the carts would carry a plurality of such spools. The transportation of such carts by hand is time-consuming and troublesome, requiring relatively wide passageways between the machines of the corresponding machinery group. When the spools are stacked horizontally on the cart due to lack of space, there is the danger of damaging the wound textile material on the spools. Also, the exchange of new full spools for those mounted on the spool railing of the second machine or group of machines is cumbersome and time consuming, since this exchange must also be done by hand. This results in high costs because of the expenditure of work. The exchange on the first spinning machine(s) of full spools produced there for empty ones is also relatively difficult when the conventional known carts are used for spool transportation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principle object of the present invention is to avoid the above-mentioned difficulties.

It is another object of the present invention to convey the spools between the first and the second groups of machines in a simplified and rationalized manner.

It is a further object of the present invention to shorten the time required for the spool exchange.

It is a further pbject of the present invention to reduce the cost of labor.

It is still another object of the present invention to transport the spools in a more careful manner, without the danger of damage to the wound textile material.

The foregoing objects, as well as others which are to become apparent from the text below, are accomplished according to the present invention, in the system of the type described at the outset. Spinning machines are provided with a combined rail system. A plurality of carriages which serve for transportation of spools are provided on the rails of the rail system. The carriages are provided with spool holders for holding spools. At least one rail of the rail system is disposed along each spinning machine. A spool railing (gripper rail, frame or lattice) of each second spinning machine is formed by at least one rail disposed alongside thereof in combination with the arriving carriages carrying full spools transported on said rail.

The novel installation according to the present invention has considerable advantages over previous types of spool transportation and spool exchange arrangements. It enables the automation of spool transportation and, if necessary, the automation of spool exchange, in case this is desired. It should be noted, however, that it has advantages even when the spool carrying carriages which move on the rails of the rail system, are at least partially moved by hand, since an operator can simultaneously move a plurality of such carriages by coupling a number of such carriages together, or by pushing the last carriage in a row of carriages causing the preceding carriages to move with the last carriage.

Since in the second group of spinning machines the rails carrying the carriages form a portion of the railing of the machine instead of the stationary railing utilized heretofore, according to the present invention it is not necessary any longer to exchange by hand the empty spools for full spools. Rather, the carriages carrying empty spools are sent back to the first spinning machine or groups of spinning machines automatically or by hand, and they are replaced by the corresponding full spools loaded at the first spinning machine or group of spinning machines, the full spools being transported along the rail or rails of the second spinning machine or group of spinning machines. Thus an exchange of the spools carried by the carriages is necessary only at the first spinning machine or group of spinning machines. The exchange is here also simplified, since it can be easily provided that before the start of the spool exchange a row or several rows of carriages with empty spools are brought on the rail or rails provided along the corresponding machine. The empty spools are spaced apart by distances approximating the spindle separation and are located laterally to or overhead of the spindles or a spindle row or rows, so that the operator, when he faces the spindle, can exchange a full spool for an empty one without the need of changing his position. Upon exchange of each spool he moves to the next spindle and carries out the next operation of spool exchange.

The carriages can be developed in such a way that they carry at any given time only one spool. Generally, however, it is particularly useful if each carriage carries several spools. Preferably, the spools are held suspended from the carriage. If required, other arrangements may be provided for the spools on the carriages; for example, the spools may be arranged in horizontal or vertical configurations. Since the spools are unwound on the second machine or group of machines while they are carried on the carriages, the spool holders must be developed in such a way that the spool may rotate in the required manner in order to unwind if the roving yarn or the like is not to be unwound overhead. Since the carriages, when they are positioned on the rail or rails disposed along the second spinning machine or machines, form part of the spool railing'( gripper rail, frame or lattice), they are to be brought onto these rails in such positions as is necessitated by the spindle sepa-' ration (pitch) of the spindle row or spindle rows of the spinning machine in question. It can be suitably provided that the spools which are affixed or mounted on the carriages are positioned in the same manner above the spindles or stretch mechanisms or devices or the other developed working instrumentalities of the second spinning machine or group of spinning machines as was the case in the conventional stationary spool railings (gripper rail, frame or lattice). It is therefore preferably provided that the spool or bobbin holders, which are positioned in a row ofcarriages in which the neighboring or adjacent carriages come in contact with each other, are approximately equidistant from each other. These distances or spaces correspond to the center distances of the neighboring spools of a correlated spindle row of the spinning machine in question or, in the case of correlation of several, parallel rails to the spindle row in question, to a corresponding multiple of the center distance of the adjacent spindles. Another possibility would be to stop the carts at the corresponding rails at predetermined points, for, example, by means of brakes, movable stops or the like. In this case, the separations of the spool holders need not coincide with the spindle separation (pitch) or a multiple of the spindle separation (pitch).

In order to effect the spool exchange at the first spinning machine or group of machines in the simplest manner, it is suitable, as mentioned, to provide there also that the carriages can be brought into predetermined positions in which, in the vicinity of each spindle of one or several spindle rows at the start of the spool exchange there is respectively positioned an empty spool on a carriage. For this purpose the spindle separation (pitch) of the spindle rows of the second spinning machine or group of machines can be matched to the spindle separation (pitch) of the first spinning machine or machines. The corresponding distances of the spools are determined approximately, when the carriages are positioned in one or several rows on or along the rail or rails disposed along this machine whereby adjacent carriages of each line of carriages touch each other. If the spindle separation (pitch) of the first and second spinning machines differ from each other in such a manner that this cannot be accomplished with carriages of equal length, then the already mentioned techniques can be used. The carriages of each carriage row can be arranged at the first spinning machine or machines, and/or naturally also at the second spinning machine ormachines at a distance from each other on the displaced rails along the machine in question, for instance, by hand or by means of automatic devices.

According to the invention it is, however, in general more advantageous, if the carriages have spacer devices which can be adjusted to different positions, for example, cams or eccentric discs, levers or the like, which can be brought, at least into two different positions preferably automatically, in which they produce the different center distances between the carriages which come in contact with each other.

The invention makes it also possible to effect or to carry out the necessary spool exchange at the first spinning machine or group of machines by means of automatic spool exchange devices, if this is desired.

The transportation of the carriage from the first spin ning machine(s) to the second spinning machine(s) and back can be done without difficulties or effected either entirely or partially automatically. Preferably, it can be provided for this purpose that the rail system has ascending sections along which conveying means, preferably endless conveying chains, are provided which automatically transport the arriving carriages upwardly on the ascending section. If to each such an ascending section there is joined a descending rail section extending to the next ascending section, then the carriages on the rail sections may move by themselves because of the force of gravity exerted on them until they are stopped, either by means of displaceable stop means, abutments or the like, which can be moved into their path of motion or travel. One can then stop the carriages of a line of carriages at predetermined points on the descending section. By switching the stop means or abutments into positions in which they do not stop the carriages any longer, the carriages by themselves start to move further on the descending section.

In general, the points of time at which the exchange of the spools for the first and the second spinning machines is to take place, cannot be coordinated insuch a manner that one can at once transport the full spools manufactured or obtained from the first spinning machine or group of spinning machines to the second spinning machine or group of spinning machines, or to transport immediately to a first spinningmachine or machines those spools which have been emptied at a second spinning machine or machines. If only for this reason, it is suitable to arrange that the rail system is provided with at least one intermediate carriage storage area for temporary storage of carriages, which means preferably consists of several rails, which are selectively available via one or several rails which lead to the intermediary storage means. One can, for example, temporarily store one or several lines of carriages carrying empty spools and/or one or more lines of carraiges carrying full spools in the intermediate storage area until such time as they are needed at the spinning machines. According to a preferred subsequent development, the rail system is endless, i.e., the carriages on the rail system can always circulate in the same sense or direction.

In many instances, however, it can be advantageously provided that the rails running along the first and/or second spinning machine or machines terminate at the spinning machine in question. In this case, the rail system at the spinning machine or spinning machines terminates in the form of a rail head or heads.

In general, it is advantageous and sufficient when the carriages are constructed in such a manner that all their spool holders at the first spinning machines are provided with full spools. However, in many instances it is suitable also to arrange for a double number of holders on the carriages so that they can carry or hold full or empty spools at the same time, so that for example, one can take off first the full spools from the first spinning machine and then stack them on the carriages which already carry empty spools. Thereafter, the empty spools are removed and inserted or mounted on the spool holders, spindles or the like of the spinning machine in question.

It is conceivable that there are instances in which the rail system consists of a sole rail, insofar as the production processes in both manufacturing stages permit it.

In general, it is however suitable to provide for a branched-off rail system which has a plurality of rail branches which are selectively controllable by means of switches. These switches can, for example, be controlled by electrical or pneumatic means or also by hand, either by remote controls or by controls which are disposed at the switches proper. In general, remote controls are suitable from a central service station at one or a few selected locations.

The invention has been described above in relation to spinning machines by way of examples, since here one was concerned with the aforementioned aims. It is to be understood that the invention is also of advantage in connection with other textile machines, twisting machines, spooling machines, texturizing machines or the like, in which the gripper rails (spool frames, lattices and the like) are provided which can be suitably replaced when the present invention is correspondingly applied, i.e., by means of the rails of a rail system and carriages.

The present invention therefore concerns in general also an installation for the transporting of spools and for the mounting support of spools to be unwound in the vicinity of working areas of a spinning machine having at least one gripper rail or the like, which machine is characterized in that instead of a stationary gripper rail of the textile machine, there is arranged at least one rail along the textile machine which forms part of a rail system and which leads at least to one loading station, and that on the rails there is disposed a plurality of carriages having spool holders which are to be provided withfull spools at the loading station. The full spools can be transported on the rails of the rail system in a consecutive manner to the rail disposed along side of the textile machine. The loading station can be part of a textile machine, at which the full spools have been formed or developed, or it can be any other station.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE; DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view which shows two spinning machine groups and a rail system, according to the invention, for the transportation of full and empty spools between the spinning machines of both machine groups.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a section of a rail of the rail system according to FIG. 1 showing two suspended carriages running or moving on the rail, the rail including an ascending section.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top plaawiew of the ascending rail section shown in FIG. 2, a carriage being positioned on this rail section, which carriage istransported by means of a transport conveyor chain.

FIG. 4 is a partial schematic view of a ring spinning machine of the second machine group of FIG. 1 illustrating an enlarged, cut-away cross section through this ring spinning machine, only these parts being shown which are of importance for the understanding of the invention.

- FIG. 5 is a sectional lower view showing two carriages arranged in series and illustrating the function of a spacer device.

FIG. 6 is a second exemplary embodiment of a rail system associated with a first spinning machine and with a group of second spinning machines according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the rail system shown in FIG. 6 where, as in FIG. 6, the carriages running on the rails are not shown.

The drawings only show those particularities schematically which are required for the essential comprehension of the present invention. Aside from the particularities which are shown, the installation serving for the transport of full and empty spools provides a multitude of switches, suspended carriages and other required parts and, furthermore, means for control and actuation of the switches and of the endless conveyor means and the like.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows schematically a top view of a machine room in which a first group of textile machines 10 and a second group of textile machines .11 are disposed. The first group of machines 10 consists of four winding machines 25, 26, each having a number of conventional flyers. The winding machines 25 'each have one row of spindles whereas the machines 26 each have two rows of spindles. The rows of spindles are not shown, for the purpose of clarity. The second group of machines 11 consists of eighteen ring spinning machines 13. In the vicinity of the ceiling of this machine room there is disposed an endless rail system at some distance from the ceiling on whose rails a multitude of suspended carriages 14 (not shown in FIG. 1) is located, of which a few are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. According to FIGS. 1 and 4, at some distance above the stretching mechanisms of each of these spinning machines 13, there are four parallelrails 9 forming part of this rail system, and of which only a partial number is shown in FIG. 1, but in reality, there are four mutually parallel rails above each of the spinning machines 13. All these rails 9 are switchable at will from a collection rail 16 by means of coordinated controllable switches. On the side which is away from the collection rail 16, these rails 9 are connected to a mutual collection rail 17. The rails 9 run in the longitudinal direction of the spinning machines 13 and, together with the carriages 14, which are placed on them, constitute the spooling railing (gripper rail, frame or lattice) 19, shown in detail in FIG. 4 of the corresponding ring spinning machines.

The collection rail 17 leads to a first intermediate carriage storage 20, which has 10 mutually parallel rails selectable at will from the collection rail 17 by means of controllable switches. The rails of this intermediate storage 20 lead from the exit of the intermediate storage into a mutual third collection rail'2l, which, at a distance from the intermediate storage 20, leads to three rails 22, 23 and 24, of which the rails 22 and 23 are selectable at will by means of controllable switches so that the carriages which travel on the rail 21 in the direction of arrow A can be lead at will to the rail 22 or 23 or 24. The rail 22 runs at some small distance from, on the side of, and above the rows of spindles of the winding machines 25 and runs alongside the winding machines. The rails 23 and 24 are disposed at a distance above the rows of spindles of the winding machines 26. The rails 22, 23 and 24 lead into a common collection rail 27 leading to a second intermediate storage 29 which has nine parallel rails which are selectable by coordinated switches at will from the rail 27. The rails of this intermediary storage 29 lead from the exit to the collection rail 16. In order to avoid that the cartem, the rails are provided with ascending and descending sections in the direction of motion of the carriages 14. The rails 22, 23 and 24 each having a rising section between the locations A and B, shown in dotted lines, and of which one 24' is shown in FIG. 2. Furthermore, the rail 21 has a rising section between the locations C and D. From the location D to the location A and from the location B to the location C, the rails exhibit a small descent which is picked so that the carriages 14 traverse these descending sections by themselves due to the force of gravity acting on them. Wheels 30 (FIGS. 2 and 3) of the carriages 14 are held in roller bearings, so that the carriages 14 run very freely. The carriages 14 run von the rail systemfillustrated in FIG. 1, exclusively in the direction of the drawn arrows, providing closed loop traffic. In the vicinity of the exits of the intermediary storages and 29, an adjustable carriage arresting element is provided for each individual rail, for example, an adjustable stop, abutment or the like, which, in one position, arrests a carriage arriving at it on this rail and, in its other position, releases it for further motion. The places at which'these carriages arresting elements are provided are designated with the letters E and G. In the same way the rails 9 are provided at the height of the stream downward end of the spinning machines 13, with reference to the direction of motion of a carriage, with adjustable carriage arresting elements F so that on each rail, a row of carriages-14 may be arrested and so that during the unwinding of the textile yarn packages, the suspended spools 31 (FIGS. 3 and 4) are held on the carriages 14 in such positions as is required in the spool railing 19. Since two parallel rails 9 are coordinated with each row of the spindles of a spinning machine 13, two rows of spools are coordinated with the spindles 32 of the particular row of spindles, where the-distance between neighboring spools of such rows of spools is equal to twice the distance between the centers of neighboring spindles of the corresponding row of spindles. Since, in this preferred embodiment, each of the carriages 13 shows three pivotably mounted spool holders 34 at the underside of its longitudinal carrier 33, where the spool holders are connected by means of arms with two wheels 30 of the particular carriage, the absolute length of this carriage is fixed so that it is equal to six times the distance between the centers of two neighboring spindles 32 of the corresponding row of spindles. The number of carriages which are present in one line during the unwinding of the spools carried by them on one rail 9, and in which neighboring carriages touch one another, corresponds to l/6th of the number of spindles in the corresonding row of spindles.

The center of gravity of each carriage 14 is located at some distance vertically'below the rail so-that the spools 31 hang vertically. Because of the existence of ascending and descending sections of the rail system, it can occasionally be suitable to mount the spool holders 34 not only rotatably about their longitudinal axes, but also pivotally, so that they may execute pendular motions which would make it possible that the spools 31 can assume a vertical direction even when the carriage is standing inclined, where it is suitable to provide means for the damping of the pendular oscillations which may occur. The distances between the centers of neighboring spindles of each row of spindles of winding machines 25, 26 can suitablebe' picked so that they are twice as large as the distances between the centers of neighboring spindles of the row of spindles of the ring spinning machines 13. In that case, the empty spools, which are carried by the carriages 14, from the spinning machines 13 to the winding machines 25, 26, if held on the spool carrier 34 of carriages 14 and if also the carriages of a row of carriages disposed on one rail 24 touchone another, will be at mutual distances which corresponds to the distance between the centers of the spindles of the corresponding row of spindles of the corresponding winding machine. In order to arrest the first carriage of the carriages 14 of each line of carriages located above such a row of spindles in the necessary position and to hold it fast during the change of spools, adjustable carriage arrest elements are assigned to the rails 22, 23and 24 at the height of lines H and K and these arrest the carriages 14 in their one position and release the carriages 14 in their second position so that at the beginning A of the inclined section A-B the carriages 14 can continue their motion.

Each carriage which arrives at the location A of such an ascending section, for example, 'at the ascending section 24, is automatically elevated by means of an elevator mechanism along the ascending section until it reaches the contiguous descending section. In the preferred exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2,

v the elevator mechanism includes a chain wheel 35 driven by an electric motor (not shown), a non-driven chain wheel 36 and an endless conveyor chain 37. Cataches 39 are mounted on the conveyor chain 37 extending to the side and at distances which corresponds to the distance between two shafts 40 which are shown in FIG. 3 as extensions to the axles carrying thewheels 30. Each rail ascending section in the rail system has assigned to it one such automatic elevating mechanism including the rail ascending section C-D. As soon as a carriage 14 has been moved by the conveyor chain 37 to the descending section contiguous to the particular ascending section, the catch 39 releases the corresponding shaft 40 and the carriage 14 continues to move by itself until it runs up to a carriage arresting element or against an already stopped carriage of the other carriages 14.

The method operation of the transport installation shown in FIGS. 14 can be simply derived from the preceding description. Hence, it will be only briefly described again below.

The preparation for a change of spools on a winding machine proceeds as follows: the necessary number of the carriages 14 with empty spools is pushed onto the rail or rails running along this winding machine by bringing these carriages from the intermediate storage 20 through the release of one of the carriage arresting elements G. When the motion of one of the flyers on the one winding machine has been stopped, the spool change is effected by hand. For the return transport of the carriages which are now equipped with full spools, the carriage arresting element associated with that particular rail is moved to its released condition, and the carriages move automatically to the subsequent ascending section and are elevated along this ascending section and reach the rail of the intermediate storage 29 which has been selected by the attendant by his having effected the corresponding switch position. These carriages of the carriages 14 remain for a period of time on that selected rail. The intennediate storage 29 can simultaneously contain a number of lines of carriages equal to the number of rails which form the intermediate storage 29. If a spool change is contemplated at a finishing spininng machine or on one side of the finishing spinning machine, then first, by suitable release of the particular carriage arresting elements F, the carriages are left to run from the corresponding rails 9 to those rails in the intermediary storage 20 which were picked by appropriate switch positions. After that the carriage arresting element F is returned to its locked position and one may let the carriages run from the intermediary storage 29 on that particular rail 9 by suit ably setting the switch assigned to the rail 9 and putting the carriage arresting element E of the corresponding rail of the intermediary storage 29 into its released position.

lf the separations of spindles of the machines of the two machine groups 10 and 11 do not correspond to one another as is explained above, then, according to the invention, one can dispose adjustable spacer devices on the carriages 14 which permit the adjustment of the distances between the center of mutually neighboring carriages 14 which touch one another so that the carriages 14 forming a line of carriages of each of the machines 13, 25 or 26 do then correspond to the disposition of the spindles of the corresponding machine.

An exemplary embodiment of a carriage 14 having a spacer device 41 in the form of a bell crank or lever is shown in FIG. This particular illustratedcarriage 14 includes a rotatably mounted angular lever 41 pivoted at a location point 40' and serves as an adjustable spacer device. The lever 41 is pulled by a tension spring 42 up to a stop 43 into the position shown in solid lines, in which positionit maintains a neighboring carriage 14 at the distance shown. For example, it may be supposed that the spacing device 41 is located in the position shown in solid lines when the first mentioned carriage 14 is located on one of the rails 9. If, on the other hand, this carriage 14 is located on one of the rails 22, 23 or 24, then in order that the spools carried by the carriages l4 correspond with the spindles of the winding machines 25 and 26, the carriages 14 must touch one another directly at the front surfaces of their respective main carriers 33 as is shown by dotted lines. For this purpose, the spacer device 41 if pivoted into the position shown in dotted lines in which a locking bolt 49, rotatably mounted on the carrier 33 and urged by a spring (not shown) engages a protrusion 44 of the spacer device 41 and holds this spacer device in the position shown in dotted lines. In order that the spacer device 41 can be automatically pivoted in the desired position, pins 46 and 47 are fixedly located alongside the rails of the ascending sections A-B and C-D. If a carriage 14 is moved past the pin 47, the pin 47 moves the spacer device 41 from the position shown in solid lines to the position shown in dotted lines in which position it is automatically held by the locking bolt 49. If such a carriage 14 travels past one of the pins 46, the pin moves the locking bolt 49 into a-position in which it releases the spacer device 41 and in this way, it is moved back to the position, shown in solid lines.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, a rail system is assigned to a winding machine and to four ring spinning machines 13. Suspension carriages (not shown) run on the rails of the rail system 10. These suspension carriages can be identical to the carriages 14 of the preceding exemplary embodiment. The rail system 10' includes an, intermediary storage 20 having nine mutually parallel rails which can be connected respectively on both sides at will to a collection rail 22 or to a collection rail 50 by means of conventional switches (not shown). The collection rail 22' runs above the (roving) winding machine 25 and terminates at the height of the end of the machine which does not face the intermediary storage 20'. The collecting rail 50 splits into two further collecting rails 50' which may be chosen by conventional switches (not shown) and from which, by means of additional conventional switches (not shown), further rails 9 disposed along the spinning machines 13 may be selectively chosen. These rails 9.also terminate in the vicinity of the end of the spinning machines 13 not facing the intermediary storage 20'. The free ends of these machines 13 carry fixed stops or abutments for the carriages corresponding to the carriages 14. The rails 9 form again the rails of the spool railing (gripper rail, frame or lattice) of the ring spinning machines 13 according to the invention. The rail 22' has an ascending section connected to the winding machine 25 along which an elevating mechanism transports the carriages, this mechanism being identical to or similar to those of the ascending section 24' assigned to the elevating mechanism of FIG. 2 and which is not further illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. From the high upper end of this ascending section, the rails forming the intermediate storage 20', the rails 50 and 50', run to the end of the rails 9 with a constant downward slope. In the vicinity of the collection rail 50, the rails of the intermediary storage 20' have operatively associated with them adjustable carriage arresting elements G which can hold in place the lines of carriages stored on the rails of the intermediary storage 20'. If such an arresting element is switched into its release position, the carriages stored on the appropriate rails begin to move by themselves to a selected one of the rails 9. The section of the rail 22' located above the winding machine 25 is horizontal.

If a spool change is contemplated on the winding winding machine 25, the required number of carriages carrying empty spools is moved by hand to the horizontal region of the rail 22' from the intermediary storage 20. After the spool change, the carriages carrying the now full spools are pushed to the beginning of the rail ascending section and are moved upward by the elevating mechanism (not shown) and from there move by themselvesto a selected rail of the intermediary storage 20' which was previously selected by an appropriate switch position and where they are arrested by the particular carriage arresting element. If carriages located on any rail 9 must be exchanged for-carriages having 8 full spools, then first .the carriages carrying empty or nearly empty spools which are located on this rail are pushed by hand to an empty rail of intermediary storage 20 which was previously selected by appropriate switch settings and are held there by means of the carriage arresting element. Subsequently, one switches a carriage arresting element belonging to the rail of the intermediary storage 20 which carries a row of carriages with full spools into its released position so that these carriages begin to move by themselves to a previously emptied rail 9' where they remain until the textile yarn package contained on them is completely or nearly completely unwound.

The regions in FIG. 7 in which the lines of spools hanging from carriages underneath the rails of the intermediary storage 20 and underneath the rails 9' are located are designated generally and diagrammatically by rectangles 2, 53.

The rail systems shown in the various figures permit numerous mutations. For example, the rails 9 in FIG. I could end at locations F and a collecting rail could lead to the intermediary storage which would be selectable by means of switches from the rails 9 where these switches are disposed between the switches assigned to a collecting rail 16 and the spinning machines 13. This particular system is, however, considerably more complicated than that shown in FIG. 1 becausc of the supplementarily required switches. The system of FIG. 1 does not require adjustable switches at the junctions between the rails 9 and collecting rail 17.

In the rail system according to FIG. 6, for example, the rail 22' could be disposed in a closed loop with respect to the collecting rail leading to the intermediate storage 20'. Naturally, numerous other changes are possible. For example, in many cases carriages could be provided which transport the spools in vertically standing positions. Such rails could be disposed, at least on certain line sections, on the floor.

It is to be appreciated that numerous other changes could be made in the illustrated embodiments of the installation for transporting spools without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention, the scope being defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is: v I

1. In an installation for transporting full spools from at least one first textile machine to at least one second textile machine associated with a subsequent stage of production and having a spool railing means and for transporting empty spools back to the at least one first textile machine, the improvement comprising: a rail system including rails interconnecting said at least one first textile machine and said at least one second textile machine; a plurality of carriagesdisposed on said rail system for moving thefull and the empty spools; and at least one spool holder on each of said carriages for holding the full and the empty spools at least during transit; and wherein said spool railing means includes at least one of said rails forming part of said rail system, which rail runs along said at least one second textile machine and those of said carriages brought on that particular rail which at their arrival carry full spools.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said at least one second textile machine consists of a group of spinning machines.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said at least one first textile machine consists of a group of pre-spinning textile machines, and said at least one second textile machine consists of a group of spinning machines.

4. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said rail system is an endless rail system.

5. An arrangement according toclaim 1, wherein said rails of said rail system include said rail which runs along said at least one second textile machine and respective rails which run along others of said textile machines, these rails ending at said respective textile machines.

6. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said at least one second textile machine includes a plurality of spinning machines, and said rails of said rail system include rails disposed along each machine of said plurality of spinning machines.

7. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said rail system includes at least one intermediate storage means for intermediary. storage of said carriages, said intermediate storage means including a plurality of rails controllable by switch means".

8. An arrangement according to claim 7, wherein said at least one intermediate storage means includes two separate intermediate storage means for storing respectively carriages carrying full spools and carriages carrying empty spools.

9. An arrangement according to claim 7, wherein said at least one intermediate storage means is a single storage means for storing both'carriages carrying full spools and carriages carrying empty spools.

'10. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said rails of' said rail system are disposed at some distance from a floor. 8

11. An arrangement according to claim 1,]wherein said carriages are suspension carriages.

12. An arrangement according to claim 11, wherein said carriages support their respective'spool holders in a suspensive manner.

13. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said rail which runs along said at least one second textile machine is disposed above work stationsof this machine.

14. An arrangement according to claim 3, wherein respective ones of said rails are disposed respectively along respective ones of said textile machines.

15. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least some of said rails include ascending sections, and further comprisingconveyor means for automatically elevating arriving carriages over said ascending sec-.

17. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least some of said rails include descending sections, arriving carriages moving along these sections under the influence of forces of gravity acting upon them.

18. An arrangement according to claim 17, wherein at least some of said descending sections are disposed along said at least one first textile machine and along said at least one second textile machine.

19. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each of said carriages has an adjustable spacing device thereon.

20. An arrangement according to claim 19, further comprising switching members disposed at points along said rails of said rail system for automatically switching said adjustable spacing devices from one position to another as said carriages pass.

21. In an installation for transporting full spools from at least one first textile machine to at least one second textile machine associated with a subsequent stage of production, and for transporting empty spools back to the at least one first textile machine, the improvement comprising: a rail system including rails interconnecting said at least one first textile machine and said at least one second textile machine; a plurality of earriages disposed on said rail system for moving the full and the emptyv spools; at least one spool holder on each of said carriages for holding the full and the empty spools at least during transit; and at least one loading station wherein said carriages are loaded with full spools from said at least one first textile machine, said loading station being formed at least in part by at least one rail of said rails which rail is disposed along said at least'one first textile machine. 

1. In an installation for transporting full spools from at least one first textile machine to at least one second textile machine associated with a subsequent stage of production and having a spool railing means and for transporting empty spools back to the at least one first textile machine, the improvement comprising: a rail system including rails interconnecting said at least one first textile machine and said at least one second textile machine; a plurality of carriages disposed on said rail system for moving the full and the empty spools; and at least one spool holder on each of said carriages for holding the full and the empty spools at least during transit; and wherein said spool railing means includes at least one of said rails forming part of said rail system, which rail runs along said at least one second textile machine and those of said carriages brought on that particular rail which at their arrival carry full spools.
 2. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said at least one second textile machine consists of a group of spinning machines.
 3. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said at least one first textile machine consists of a group of pre-spinning textile machines, and said at least one second textile machine consists of a group of spinning machines.
 4. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said rail system is an endless rail system.
 5. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said rails of said rail system include said rail which runs along said at least one second textile machine and respective rails which run along others of said textile machines, these rails ending at said respective textile machines.
 6. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said at least one seconD textile machine includes a plurality of spinning machines, and said rails of said rail system include rails disposed along each machine of said plurality of spinning machines.
 7. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said rail system includes at least one intermediate storage means for intermediary storage of said carriages, said intermediate storage means including a plurality of rails controllable by switch means.
 8. An arrangement according to claim 7, wherein said at least one intermediate storage means includes two separate intermediate storage means for storing respectively carriages carrying full spools and carriages carrying empty spools.
 9. An arrangement according to claim 7, wherein said at least one intermediate storage means is a single storage means for storing both carriages carrying full spools and carriages carrying empty spools.
 10. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said rails of said rail system are disposed at some distance from a floor.
 11. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said carriages are suspension carriages.
 12. An arrangement according to claim 11, wherein said carriages support their respective spool holders in a suspensive manner.
 13. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said rail which runs along said at least one second textile machine is disposed above work stations of this machine.
 14. An arrangement according to claim 3, wherein respective ones of said rails are disposed respectively along respective ones of said textile machines.
 15. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least some of said rails include ascending sections, and further comprising conveyor means for automatically elevating arriving carriages over said ascending sections.
 16. An arrangement according to claim 15, wherein said conveyor means includes endless conveyor chains.
 17. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein at least some of said rails include descending sections, arriving carriages moving along these sections under the influence of forces of gravity acting upon them.
 18. An arrangement according to claim 17, wherein at least some of said descending sections are disposed along said at least one first textile machine and along said at least one second textile machine.
 19. An arrangement according to claim 1, wherein each of said carriages has an adjustable spacing device thereon.
 20. An arrangement according to claim 19, further comprising switching members disposed at points along said rails of said rail system for automatically switching said adjustable spacing devices from one position to another as said carriages pass.
 21. In an installation for transporting full spools from at least one first textile machine to at least one second textile machine associated with a subsequent stage of production, and for transporting empty spools back to the at least one first textile machine, the improvement comprising: a rail system including rails interconnecting said at least one first textile machine and said at least one second textile machine; a plurality of carriages disposed on said rail system for moving the full and the empty spools; at least one spool holder on each of said carriages for holding the full and the empty spools at least during transit; and at least one loading station wherein said carriages are loaded with full spools from said at least one first textile machine, said loading station being formed at least in part by at least one rail of said rails which rail is disposed along said at least one first textile machine. 